Together We Fall

Chapter 69

His lips curve up into a surprised smile that melts my heart. He stands up and rushes down the row of chairs. I keep my eyes trained on him the entire time.

He climbs onto the stage and strides towards me. His footsteps are quick and the look in his eyes makes everyone around me disappear.

I step away from the microphone, "I'm so sorry for what I did-" I try apologizing for not trusting him, but he cuts me off.

With his lips.

He smashes them against mine and all I can think of is the love I have for him. Maybe it was his laugh, or his eyes or his smile. It could've been his hair, voice or personality, but whatever it was made me fall pretty damn hard.

He tightens his grip on my hips to pull me closer and the crowd erupts in cheering. I smile against his lips, and I feel him doing the same.

Then we pull back and I no longer feel nervous anymore. Being on stage or walking across a filed of people is nothing to me now that I'm in his arms. I can't focus on all of that because he's here again. I'm home.

"I love you too, baby." he whispers to me and I grin like an idiot.

He wraps his arm around my waist and leads me off of the stage, "Let's hurry up and get down before Dr. Johnson ruins the moment by kicking us off."

I laugh, "Good idea."

As soon as we're off, he calls out the next name.

Trace has to go back to his seat and I've got to go back to mine. But I don't even care because I know that when the ceremony ends I'll be in his arms again. For good this time. There won't be stealing glances from across the room or me trying to think of what to say for him to take me back.

Sometimes being in the dark is what it takes for you to realize how happy you are in the light. Being away from Trace was the deepest shade of black. He's my light.

Mason gives me a proud smile, "I love your speech."

"I had a completely different one planned out. Looks like I'm good at winging it after all."

We sit in silence for the rest of graduation. Adalyn is the only other friend who gives a speech, but her's isn't very long. It started with, "Peace out," and ended with, "bitches!" then she was told to leave the stage.

Michael Zulily walks off the stage. We each move the tassels on our cap over to the left.

"Let's hear if for our graduating class of 2020!" He shouts and cheering begins instantly. All of the graduates take off their caps, tossing them high into the air as the shouting begins.

The bleachers are filled with excited parents, running out to see their kids. The students all rejoice and begin hugging each other.

I turn around just in time to see Trace. He takes me into his arms and I wrap my arms around his neck, bringing him closer to me. The woodsy scent of him fills my lungs and my stomach does flips at the smell I didn't even know I missed so much.

"Emma!" My mom calls out. Trace lets me go and I hurry over to her.

Mom and Dad both take me into a group hug and even Laila flashes me a kind smile from behind them.

"I'm so proud of you my baby." he kisses the top of my head.

Oh, I've missed my daddy.

We walk off of the field talking about my speech, graduation and what to do with my cap and gown now.

"We can discuss all of this later! Go be with your friends for a minute!" Mom says happily.

I nod, hurrying to my friends that're huddled together in a group talking and goofing around.

Everyone in sight is wearing a smile. It's a beautiful scene to witness.

"We need to take a group picture!" Adalyn insists.

The only time we've ever taken a picture as a group was when we all went ice skating. So much has changed since then. I developed feelings for Trace and we kissed, Cameron turned out to be a lying scumbag, Mason admitted he likes me, Trace's house burned down... the list goes on forever.

I've made some of the best memories of my life with this group of people.

We all arrange ourselves the best we can for eight people. Josephine crouches down in front of Mason. Ethan leans against Mason. Lucas picks up Adalyn bridal style and I jump onto Trace's back.

The overall photo is cute as shit.

We get the picture and then decide to take a normal looking one. The guys stand at the back with their arms going across each others shoulders. The girls put our hands on our knees and lean down a little in front of the boys.

Each of us hold the biggest smile.

Adalyn sends the photos to each of us and I quickly change my wallpaper and slip my phone back into my pocket.

Trace pulls me into him. I wrap my arms around his back, remembering to appreciate it more than I did before. I place my chin on his chest, looking up at him, "What is it?"

He chuckles, "Lucas told me what happened at the pizza parlor yesterday. He said you found out that I was on probation."

I nod into his chest, "Yea, that was super nice of you by the way."

"Well, I couldn't have your permanent record getting ruined now could I?"

I smile. He remembers.

"But that's not why I brought it up." He continues, "You found out I was on probation and then the next day Dr. Johnson called and told me the consequences have been mischarged and that I was free to walk today." he gives me a knowing look.

"Well, I couldn't let you be punished for something I didn't do." I tease.

His lips curve up into a smile, "You really are incredible Emma."

He leans down and places a soft kiss on my forehead, lingering there longer than necessary, but I don't mind.

"Wait, so then what's happening to Beatrice?" he questions.

He doesn't seem worried about her punishment but instead, a little guilty. He must be thinking the same thing I did.

"She won't be charged with anything or have any consequence. Dr. Johnson and I checked the surveillance footage, but we couldn't tell who did it. Even though I knew who it was already, he didn't. I told him not to worry about looking into it."

Although Beatrice is a lot of things, she doesn't deserve to pay for the crime she was forced to commit. I don't know how nor do I care but Cameron has something over her to make her do that. She's a snob, but she'd never be crazy enough to plant drugs in someone else's locker.

He nods in understanding, "Well, on the bright side nobody's gotten too badly hurt for Cameron's last attempt to destroy us. You got to keep your perfect record, I got to walk and Beatrice disguised herself good enough to not get caught. Seems like we won in the end."

I won everything just having him here with me.

"And he won't be messing with us anymore. Cameron moved to Oregon with Liam and his uncle."

I didn't know Liam moved away. I wish I'd gotten to say goodbye. But maybe it's for the best that I didn't know he left. It seems like every time he sees me he's just upset because he thinks I'm Stacy, whoever that is.

So at the end of the day, everything turned out good. All because I can call Trace mine again.

Authors Note:
Hello guys! Thanks for reading! Have a great day and stay safe!

This is one of my favorite chapters just because I think it's super cute and I loved her graduation speech lol. Her speech literally took me two hours to write... but I really like how it turned out.

Trace and Emma are reunited! I contemplated making this the last chapter but I decided against it to give them a little bit more closure and tie a few ends.